Recent advances in synthetic approaches for bioactive cinnamic acid derivatives

• Betty A. Kustiana,
• Galuh Widiyarti and
• Teni Ernawati

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1031–1086, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.85

• bond of cyclopropenone to give a cyclic intermediate 316 (Scheme 74A) [125]. On the other hand, Wu and co-workers (2022) developed a Pd-catalyzed selective ring-opening of cyclopropenones and vinyl epoxide 318 to give the corresponding esters 319–321 in good yields via a π–allyl palladium intermediate

Recent total synthesis of natural products leveraging a strategy of enamide cyclization

• Chun-Yu Mi,
• Jia-Yuan Zhai and
• Xiao-Ming Zhang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 999–1009, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.81

• a fragmentation process for the total synthesis of (−)-phlegmariurine B. A one-pot epoxidation/nucleophilic epoxide opening introduced both a hydroxy group and a chloride across the cyclopentene, producing 14 in 57% yield. After oxidation of alcohol 14 to ketone 15, the Mukaiyama hydration then

Cryptophycin unit B analogues

• Thomas Schachtsiek,
• Jona Voss,
• Maren Hamsen,
• Beate Neumann,
• Hans-Georg Stammler and
• Norbert Sewald

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 526–532, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.40

• -phenyl position of unit A [9][10][11] or derivatisation of unit A’s epoxide moiety into a halohydrin (-glycinate) [5][12][13][14][15][16][17]. Cryptophycins modified at the α-position of unit C [18] and, most recently, various derivatives with modifications in unit D [19] were established as potent and

• obtained through Grubbs metathesis and subsequent acetonide cleavage in a superior yield of 76%. The finalising steps to obtain epoxides 26 and 2 (Scheme 3) were a diol–epoxide transformation [11][19][32], including firstly the formation of a cyclic orthoester, secondly the formation of a bromohydrin

• -hydroxy-7-azabenzotriazole; HATU = 1-[bis(dimethylamino)methyliumyl]-1H-1,2,3-triazolo[4,5-b]pyridinium 3-oxide hexafluorophosphate. Three-step diol–epoxide transformation starting from diols 24 and 25. a) (MeO)3CH, pyridinium p-toluenesulfonate, CH2Cl2, rt, 3 h; b) AcBr, CH2Cl2, rt, 3–4 h; c) K2CO3

Advances in the use of metal-free tetrapyrrolic macrocycles as catalysts

• Mandeep K. Chahal

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 3085–3112, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.257

• , with TBAI as a co-catalyst, up to 74% yields (Table 1). The inactivity of porphyrin 18 was attributed to the inaccessibility of the inner core imine due to its planar structure. The mechanism of the epoxide ring-opening reaction was elucidated by DFT calculations, which suggested that the macrocycle

• adopts a 1,3-alternate conformation and binds simultaneously to the epoxide O-atom and iodide anion via (NH···O and NH···I) hydrogen-bonding interactions. The TBA countercation is bound to the O-atom of the epoxide ring with hydrogen bonds and is situated away from the I− anion. This crucial transition

• state stabilizes the anionic species generated during the reaction pathway and facilitates a backside attack of I− on the epoxide thus resulting in the initial ring opening (Figure 4b). Apart from acting as an organocatalyst, calix[4]pyrrole 11 has been used for the promotion of cuprous chloride

Computational design for enantioselective CO₂ capture: asymmetric frustrated Lewis pairs in epoxide transformations

• Maxime Ferrer,
• Iñigo Iribarren,
• Tim Renningholtz,
• Ibon Alkorta and
• Cristina Trujillo

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2668–2681, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.224

• strategy to mitigate rising atmospheric carbon dioxide levels. Despite extensive research on the CO2 insertion into epoxides to form cyclic carbonates, the stereochemical implications of this reaction have been largely overlooked, despite the prevalence of racemic epoxide solutions. This study introduces

• strategically modifying LB substituents to induce asymmetry, a stereoselective catalytic scaffold was developed, favouring one enantiomer from both epoxide enantiomers. This work advances the in silico design of FLPs, highlighting their potential as asymmetric CCU catalysts with implications for optimising

• catalyst efficiency and selectivity in sustainable chemistry applications. Keywords: asymmetric catalysis; carbon dioxide; CO2; epoxide; frustrated Lewis pairs (FLPs); volcano plot; Introduction The field of frustrated Lewis pairs (FLPs) has flourished since their seminal discovery in 2006 by Stephan and

Facile preparation of fluorine-containing 2,3-epoxypropanoates and their epoxy ring-opening reactions with various nucleophiles

• Yutaro Miyashita,
• Sae Someya,
• Tomoko Kawasaki-Takasuka,
• Tomohiro Agou and
• Takashi Yamazaki

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2421–2433, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.206

• shorter period possibly because of its significantly high electrophilicity by the attachment of three strongly electron-withdrawing moieties. Reactions of (E)-3-Rf-2,3-epoxypropanoates 2 with amines, thiols, and metal halides Because the epoxide ring opening is known to occur in an SN2 fashion, compounds

Natural resorcylic lactones derived from alternariol

• Joachim Podlech

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2171–2207, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.187

Syntheses and medicinal chemistry of spiro heterocyclic steroids

• Laura L. Romero-Hernández,
• Ana Isabel Ahuja-Casarín,
• Penélope Merino-Montiel,
• Sara Montiel-Smith,
• José Luis Vega-Báez and
• Jesús Sandoval-Ramírez

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1713–1745, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.152

• -Montiel recently reported a straightforward method to obtain the spiromorpholinone cycle on estrone. Initially, estrone was benzylated at C-3 and subjected to a Corey–Chaykovsky reaction using trimethylsulfonium iodide and potassium tert-butoxide, to produce diastereoselectively the epoxide 145. The

• epoxide was then opened by treatment with sodium azide and boric acid, yielding the azide derivative 146 in 87% from estrone. A subsequent reduction of the azide with LiAlH4 provided the aminoalcohol derivative 147 in 64% yield. Then, a chloroacetamido moiety was formed at the amino function in 51% yield

• nucleophilic and can lead to the formation of five- or six-membered rings, the authors proposed that the thione group of ii was tautomerized to an iminothiol, from which the sulfur atom attacked the most electrophilic site of the epoxide (which was activated by protonation), producing the spiro-1,3,4

Chemo-enzymatic total synthesis: current approaches toward the integration of chemical and enzymatic transformations

• Ryo Tanifuji and
• Hiroki Oguri

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1693–1712, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.151

• on a decagram scale in five steps from (+)-limonene oxide (13), involving epoxide manipulation, oxidative cleavage, and intramolecular aldol condensation. Similarly, the right-half fragment, allyl chloride 16, was synthesized from limonene in five steps. Site-selective hydrogenation, oxidative

Generation of multimillion chemical space based on the parallel Groebke–Blackburn–Bienaymé reaction

• Evgen V. Govor,
• Vasyl Naumchyk,
• Ihor Nestorak,
• Dmytro S. Radchenko,
• Dmytro Dudenko,
• Yurii S. Moroz,
• Olexiy D. Kachkovsky and
• Oleksandr O. Grygorenko

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1604–1613, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.143

• ), which is another confirmation of the GBB space uniqueness. Notably, 432 members of the generated GBB chemical space were already present in the ChEMBL database [42]. Among them, potent nonacidic farnesoid X receptor (FXR) modulators [48], 5-lipooxygenase (5-LO) inhibitors [49], soluble epoxide hydrolase

Computation-guided scaffold exploration of 2E,6E-1,10-trans/cis-eunicellanes

• Zining Li,
• Sana Jindani,
• Volga Kojasoy,
• Teresa Ortega,
• Erin M. Marshall,
• Khalil A. Abboud,
• Sandra Loesgen,
• Dean J. Tantillo and
• Jeffrey D. Rudolf

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1320–1326, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.115

• -epoxide 9, which readily crystallized (Figure 2A and Figures S5–S10, Table S1 in Supporting Information File 1). Similarly, the 6,7-epoxy derivatives of klysimplexin R (3) and microeunicellene (4) were recently synthesized and isolated [11][21]; 3 cyclized to the 6/6/6-scaffold after the addition of acid

• epoxide 9, but the similar reaction with 2 yields gersemienol 8. Isolation yields are provided. (B and C) Results of DFT calculations on the protonation-induced cyclizations of 1 and 2. The energies of the cationic intermediates (italicized values) are not on the same energy scale as for the substrates

Bismuth(III) triflate: an economical and environmentally friendly catalyst for the Nazarov reaction

• Manoel T. Rodrigues Jr.,
• Aline S. B. de Oliveira,
• Ralph C. Gomes,
• Amanda Soares Hirata,
• Lucas A. Zeoly,
• Hugo Santos,
• João Arantes,
• Catarina Sofia Mateus Reis-Silva,
• João Agostinho Machado-Neto,
• Leticia Veras Costa-Lotufo and
• Fernando Coelho

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1167–1178, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.99

• synthesis has been reported for several transformations, such as epoxide opening [56], ketal formation and deprotection [57][58], Mannich reaction [59], intramolecular Sakurai cyclization [60], alcohol oxidation [61], aromatic hydrocarbon nitration [62], imine allylation [63], Knoevenagel condensation [64

• ], Reformatsky reaction [65], azalactone synthesis [66], nitro reduction [67][68], epoxide rearrangement, thiourea guanylation, and others [69][70]. In this article, we describe a simple and direct protocol for the preparation of indanones through a classical Nazarov reaction catalyzed by bismuth(III) triflate

Enhancing structural diversity of terpenoids by multisubstrate terpene synthases

• Min Li and
• Hui Tao

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 959–972, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.86

• depyrophosphorylation, whereas class II TSs utilize a general acid (a key Asp residue) to protonate the terminal C=C bond or epoxide group to yield a tertiary carbocation. The highly reactive carbocation is then converted to different carbocation intermediates, facilitated by the hydrophobic pocket of the TSs, which

(Bio)isosteres of ortho- and meta-substituted benzenes

• H. Erik Diepers and
• Johannes C. L. Walker

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 859–890, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.78

• ], they were able to access cubane 166 on gram scale. Synthesis of enone 176 was achieved by a Wharton transposition sequence [66]. The enone 173 was epoxidised yielding epoxide 174, which could be converted into the allylic alcohol 175 by the Wharton reaction. Enone 176 could then be obtained by

Genome mining of labdane-related diterpenoids: Discovery of the two-enzyme pathway leading to (−)-sandaracopimaradiene in the fungus Arthrinium sacchari

• Fumito Sato,
• Terutaka Sonohara,
• Shunta Fujiki,
• Akihiro Sugawara,
• Yohei Morishita,
• Taro Ozaki and
• Teigo Asai

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 714–720, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.65

• complexity. TCs are generally classified into two main classes, class I and class II. Class I TCs initiate the cyclization by heterolytic cleavage of substrates to generate a diphosphate anion and an allylic carbocation, and class II enzymes start cyclization by protonating a double bond or an epoxide

SOMOphilic alkyne vs radical-polar crossover approaches: The full story of the azido-alkynylation of alkenes

• Julien Borrel and
• Jerome Waser

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 701–713, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.64

• presence of transition metal catalysts [11][12][13][14]. Currently, this motif is synthesized by sequential introduction of the two functional groups [11][12][13]. Addition of a lithium acetylide to an epoxide affords the corresponding homopropargylic alcohol which can then undergo a sequence of mesylation

Production of non-natural 5-methylorsellinate-derived meroterpenoids in Aspergillus oryzae

• Jia Tang,
• Yixiang Zhang and
• Yudai Matsuda

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 638–644, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.56

• spectrometry (HRMS) analysis revealed the molecular formula of 1 to be C25H36O5, corresponding to the 4-desmethyl form of (6R,10′R)-epoxyfarnesyl-DMOA methyl ester (Figure 2C). Furthermore, the molecular formula of 2 was determined to be C25H38O6, indicating that 2 is formed by the hydrolysis of the epoxide

Recent developments in the engineered biosynthesis of fungal meroterpenoids

• Zhiyang Quan and
• Takayoshi Awakawa

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 578–588, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.50

• led to the production of preterretonin A (7) (Figure 2) [9]. These data indicated that Trt1 protonates the epoxide of (10'R)-epoxyfarnesyl-DMOA-3,5-methyl ester (6), leading to the cyclization of the terpenoid moiety in the chair–chair conformation, and catalyzes the deprotonation of H-9' of the

• meroterpenoids: insuetusin A1 (12) and insuetusin B1 (10), respectively (Figure 2) [9]. Like other Trt1-type enzymes, InsB2 catalyzes the protonation of the epoxide, the formation of two six-membered rings in a chair–chair conformation, but the reaction finishes with the deprotonation of the hydroxy group at C-3

• to produce compound 10. In contrast, InsA7 commonly initiates and terminates the reaction with the protonation of the epoxide and the deprotonation of OH-3, respectively, but it produces product 12 via a boat–chair conformation. Since all of the other Trt1-like cyclases catalyze the reaction with

Switchable molecular tweezers: design and applications

• Pablo Msellem,
• Maksym Dekthiarenko,
• Nihal Hadj Seyd and
• Guillaume Vives

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 504–539, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.45

Synthesis of π-conjugated polycyclic compounds by late-stage extrusion of chalcogen fragments

• Aissam Okba,
• Pablo Simón Marqués,
• Kyohei Matsuo,
• Naoki Aratani,
• Hiroko Yamada,
• Gwénaël Rapenne and
• Claire Kammerer

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 287–305, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.30

• reagents [4]. The non-planar character of the bridging epoxide moieties endows the precursors with increased solubility, and endoxides have thus been envisioned as soluble precursors of acenes. Since the addition of chemical reagents is not desirable in this context, thermal activation and electron

• adsorbed on the metallic surface were characterized by combined STM and nc-AFM at low temperature (5 K), thus evidencing the presence of the two bridging oxygens. Next, the STM tip-induced extrusion of oxygen was investigated: application of a bias voltage of ≈2.2 V on top of one 1,4-epoxide bridge led to

Anion–π catalysis on carbon allotropes

• M. Ángeles Gutiérrez López,
• Mei-Ling Tan,
• Giacomo Renno,
• Augustina Jozeliūnaitė,
• J. Jonathan Nué-Martinez,
• Javier Lopez-Andarias,
• Naomi Sakai and
• Stefan Matile

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1881–1894, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.140

• tested anion–π catalysts. This result was consistent with the stabilization of the anionic intermediates IX and X and the respective transition states on the polarized fullerene surface. Anion–π autocatalysis on fullerenes The autocatalysis of epoxide-opening ether cyclization on π-acidic aromatic

• surfaces has been identified in 2018 as an emergent property of anion–π catalysis [69]. In this series, fullerene catalyst 31 was found to catalyze the cyclization of epoxide 32 into THF 33 (Figure 6). The rate enhancement for catalysis was 270, whereas autocatalysis accelerated the reaction by 1045 M−1

• catalysis. Moreover, epoxide opening polyether cyclizations are among the most impressive cascade reactions in nature [71][72][73]. Best known is the hypothetical cascade XII in the biosynthesis of brevetoxin B [74]. It affords eleven fused ethers by violating the Eschenmoser–Dunitz–Baldwin guidelines [75

Synthesis of ether lipids: natural compounds and analogues

• Marco Antônio G. B. Gomes,
• Alicia Bauduin,
• Chloé Le Roux,
• Romain Fouinneteau,
• Wilfried Berthe,
• Mathieu Berchel,
• Hélène Couthon and
• Paul-Alain Jaffrès

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1299–1369, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.96

• tosylation of the primary alcohol produced 4.8. The epoxidation of 4.8 occurred by reaction with t-BuOK in THF, thus producing 4.9 as a chiral electrophile. The regioselective opening of the epoxide is achieved by adding the octadecanol sodium salt. The intermediate was debenzylated by catalytic

• the epoxide. The lithium salts were removed by washing with potassium sodium tartrate (Seignette’s salt). Then, at low temperature an excess of 2-chloro-1,3,2-dioxaphospholane (5.3, 3.8 equiv) in the presence of diisopropylethylamine (DIPEA) reacted with the primary alcohol to produce, after an

• from allyl alcohol (Figure 7) [82]. The Sharpless asymmetric epoxidation of allyl alcohol followed by tosylation produced glycidyl tosylate 7.1a (Figure 7). The reaction of palmityl alcohol (C16H33-OH) in the presence of a catalytic amount of BF3 open regio- and stereoselectively the epoxide to produce

Cassane diterpenoids with α-glucosidase inhibitory activity from the fruits of Pterolobium macropterum

• Sarot Cheenpracha,
• Ratchanaporn Chokchaisiri,
• Lucksagoon Ganranoo,
• Sareeya Bureekaew,
• Thunwadee Limtharakul and
• Surat Laphookhieo

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 658–665, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.47

• unsaturation required the presence of two heterocyclic rings in the molecule. The presence of an ester carbonyl signal (δC 167.0) and a deshielded oxygenated carbon resonance at C-12′ (δC 104.1) implied the formation of six-membered ring via an ester bond between C-16 and C-12′. In addition, an epoxide moiety

Asymmetric synthesis of a stereopentade fragment toward latrunculins

• Benjamin Joyeux,
• Antoine Gamet,
• Nicolas Casaretto and
• Bastien Nay

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 428–433, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.32

• , in view of its coupling to 8. We first relied the chemoselective epoxidation of the homoallylic alcohol, done in presence of VO(OiPr)3 (20 mol %) and t-BuOOH to afford epoxide 13, in 86% yield and a dr of 75:25 (measured by NMR, presumably resulting from the major diastereoisomer of 13; minor isomers

• . Unfortunately, it was not possible to set up an appropriate nucleophile through the umpolung of aldehyde 8 to react with this epoxide, which led us to envisage the following aldol strategy through ketone 15. Attempts of Wacker reactions to produce 15 were unsuccessful on 12, presumably due to a competition

• between the two olefinic parts. After protection of the secondary alcohol as a para-methoxybenzyl (PMB) ether (78% yield of 14), the ketone (15) was installed in two steps from the epoxide (direct rearrangement attempts of the epoxide to form the ketone were unsuccessful). Thus, the epoxide was first

Combretastatins D series and analogues: from isolation, synthetic challenges and biological activities

• Jorge de Lima Neto and
• Paulo Henrique Menezes

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 399–427, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.31

• ][17] by analysis of NMR and mass spectra and confirmed by X-ray crystallography in an initial report. However, attempts to determine the absolute configuration of the epoxide present in compound 1 based on crystallographic data were unsuccessful. By matching the sign of the Cotton effect curves

• obtained in the combretastatin D-1 spectrum with the appropriate chiral epoxides, the authors assigned the absolute stereochemistry of the epoxide ring as 3R,4S. This attribution was controversial and was only definitively established years later, as will be shown in this review. In 2005, Vongvanich and co

• acetic anhydride followed by epoxidation using m-CPBA gave protected epoxide 50. Subsequent removal of the acetate group using ammonia led to racemic compound 1 (Scheme 8). Rychnovsky and Hwang succeeded in the total syntheses of combretastatin D-2 (2) in a 36% overall yield after 13 steps and